06/19/05

Our fascinating past

Secret plan integrated Charlotte High School

"Desegregation efforts in Charlotte County public schools 1963-65 are not well-documented in civil rights scholarship," says Richard McManus, a talented history scholar at Florida Gulf Coast University.

He set about to fill in this shortcoming with a lengthy paper submitted recently to Dr. Irvin D.S. Winsboro's pro-seminar in history.

"The integration events that occurred there never made national headlines," writes McManus. "This is most likely due to the lack of conflict between Charlotte County's whites and blacks, the absence of threats to close down the schools and -- most importantly -- the nonexistence of violence."

McManus' paper is well researched -- thus I yield the rest of this column to a resume of his own words.

* * *

Prior to 1963, Charlotte County maintained segregated schools. Following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1954, declaring school segregation unlawful, Florida counties followed a deliberate strategy to delay desegregation.

Under support and supervision of the state, Charlotte County defied the court's decision for nine years.

The county in 1963 launched an integration process that would be enormously successful. It began with partial integration of its only public secondary school, Charlotte High in Punta Gorda.

Immediately following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Charlotte County School Board approved a biracial committee to study plans for desegregation. However, local and state pressures postponed implementation.

Baker And Dunbar

Prior to 1963, black students not yet of high-school age attended the "blacks-only" Baker Academy on Cooper Street. Older children were bused to the blacks-only Dunbar High School in Fort Myers.

John Henry Allen, a black resident of Punta Gorda, and World War II veteran of the U.S. Air Force, struggled with other black activists -- particularly Bessie Bryant -- to push desegregation.

"Students on Gasparilla Island had to arise at 4 a.m. to catch the bus and ferry," recalls Allen. "They reached home again at 8 p.m.

"It was hard to find local support for desegregation because it still was the days of Jim Crow laws, and it was fear that kept people away."

After desegregation of Charlotte County schools in 1965, Allen worked diligently for the next two years to create a Punta Gorda chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Local black activists helped generate support for desegregation in Charlotte County, but it was School Board member L.A. Ainger who forced the board to listen.

In the months leading up to the 1963 school year, Superintendent W.S. Hancock wanted to put high school blacks in Baker Academy, rather than bus them to Dunbar.

Ainger and a few other white residents protested that it would furnish a sub-standard education because the Academy had poor facilities.

Key decision

The matter came to a head at a late-night meeting of the School Board on July 16, 1963, as reported by the Englewood Herald:

"The feasibility of integrating the county's Negro high school students into the white Charlotte High School -- the only high school in the country -- is to be studied by the school board.

"The board voted last week to establish a full high school at Baker Academy, the Negro elementary school at Punta Gorda. This drew protests from Englewood residents who asked that the Lemon Bay elementary and junior high be expanded to a full high school first.

"Proposal to study the integration issue was moved by L.A. Ainger of Englewood. Sammy McCullough seconded. Willard Sechrist also voted for it. Chairman Dick Townsend and Robert South did not vote.

"In making the proposal, Ainger said, 'If the Negro students who did not attend Dunbar High in Fort Myers are brought back to Baker Academy, the only thing they will have when they graduate is a diploma. They won't have an education.'

"Declared Ainger: 'We are supposed to be educating our students to go out into the world. How are we doing our job when we keep them segregated in school and then send them out into an integrated world?'"

Secret process

The school board moved to study the issue.

However, a clandestine committee of white and black adults secretly prepared for the integration of Charlotte High School.

Bessie Bryant was a leading voice in the meetings and played a large role in the integration process. The committee began working with Superintendent Hancock to create a plan for a smooth integration process.

The committee secretly requested black families to submit applications for their children to attend Charlotte High for the upcoming school year. At that time, 18 black students were scheduled to be bused to Dunbar.

Final vote

The school board had not officially voted on the integration issue. It was not until Aug. 26, 1963, seven days before the first black students would attend Charlotte High, that the board held a special and secret meeting to vote.

Ainger stated to his colleagues "The county could show good morals by not defying federal law." He then proposed initial integration at Charlotte High. The motion was approved by two board members and opposed by one. Chairman Dick Townsend and member Robert South, though present, did not vote. Thus, the motion was officially approved by a 3-1 vote. The decision was not disclosed to the public until Aug. 28 -- just five days before the school year began.

This last-minute announcement could also be responsible for the lack of organized resistance to desegregation.

Of the 18 blacks eligible to attend Charlotte High, 15 applied. The latter were interviewed closely and their competency tested. Ms. Bryant assessed many eligible students.

Of the 15 applicants, five were selected. The 10 who were not chosen returned to Dunbar with the three black students who did not apply.

Allen correctly predicted that the plan -- which sent only five black students to Charlotte High -- would eventually lead to complete integration. This well-structured plan set the table for a resistance-free and violence-free integration.

First day

On opening day, Sept. 3, 1963, the five chosen black students were driven to Charlotte High. They were Isaac Thomas Jr., Felix Johnson, Minnie Lee Mitchell, Gertha Haddock and Ron Middleton. Driving them was Isaac Thomas Sr.

There was some reason to be apprehensive. Patricia Mathews, a white student at the time, says some of her classmates were involved with the Ku Klux Klan. "Sometimes, the KKK with shotguns drove through black neighborhoods to instill fear into the blacks."

The main entrance of the school was filled with a line of sheriff's deputies and 575 white students. Black students were relieved to find that the deputies were not needed and left shortly after the five blacks entered.

No incidents took place during the first day of classes. The Charlotte Herald reported the event only briefly, noting "all students were well-behaved."

School Superintendent Hancock said, "It was just like any other first day of school."

Although there were no reported problems, the first five black students had to deal with a few white students who voiced racist beliefs daily. These did not escalate to violence.

Following Dade County's desegregation efforts in 1959, Charlotte County became the second Florida county to integrate voluntarily.

Why successful

Certainly the Charlotte County desegregation process was worthy of merit. Nonetheless, two other factors played significant roles.

One was the diverse makeup of the white student body. Charles A. June, a history teacher during the integration, asserts the county was not as segregated as communities in other southern states.

Marilyn Jones Garmon, a white student at Charlotte High that year, recalls that many of the white and black students had played with each other without any problems at the park during their childhood.

Linda Raines recollects that the black students acted polite and quiet even when teased. Judy Jones, who was part of the second wave of black students, also remembers that "Most white students knew each other from playing together."

L.A. Ainger, who launched the School Board integration effort, surmised that many of the county's residents were newcomers from the north unaffected by integration.

The most convincing reason for peaceful student relationships may be the diversity of the Charlotte County community. This affected the overall mindset of white students.

Fred Patch, a white student in 1963, says the blacks received support from some of their teachers. "Mr. June went beyond the duty of a teacher, he wanted blacks to succeed."

Conclusion

Florida school officials elsewhere were not pressured by the federal government to begin integrating until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By that time, Charlotte County was halfway through the process of integration.

A year later, Florida demanded that each county submit plans for complete integration. Charlotte and Dade Counties were the first to submit their plans -- already being implemented.

DeSoto County desegregated in 1967, Sarasota County in 1969 and Lee County in 1970.

The contributions made by Ainger, Allen and Bryant were indispensable. The school board's decision to form a biracial committee to oversee the integration process was essential to its success.

The diverse student body of Charlotte High School played a significant role by preventing the encompassment of an intolerant attitude toward the new policy.

The five pioneering black students earned the admiration the School Board and county residents.

Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be contacted at LinWms@earthlink.net.

Lindsey Williams